Guest Speakers:

Reverend Philip Hawthorn: Saint Stephen's Parochial Church Council (PCC)

Philip has been at Saint Stephen's for 10 years. This is his first job as a rector. Before that he was a writer, director and presenter in various media, mostly for BBC Radio and Television.

David Mintz: Manchester’s Jewish Communities Sunday Night Live Host

A series of Sunday night discussions featuring thought provoking talking points on a range of challenging topics.

Dr Haider Ali: General Practitioner / Family medicine consultant

A University of Manchester medical alumni. Haida has also been volunteering, supporting NHS Staff delivering care packages through the pandemic.

Covid-19’s social significance as a public health crisis is unprecedented in living memory and a watershed in the longer history of the National Health Service (NHS). The ways in which we live, work, and think about our health have changed profoundly and the story is not over yet. We do not know how, or when Covid-19 will pan out, but we do know that we are all actors in an historic moment.

Faith and religious beliefs are an essential part of many people’s lives. Everyday rituals of attending places of worship and observing religious festivals give meaning and shape to the passing of time. During Covid-19, faith communities have played a central role in the crisis including: supporting people who are suffering loss and bereavement; distributing food and supplies; and opening up mosques, synagogues and churches as vaccination centres. At local level, faith communities have been working in neighbourhoods alongside charities and other voluntary sector organisations to support some of the most vulnerable in society.

Our aim is to build a diverse and representative collection of Covid-19 personal testimonies across the four nations of the UK that will serve both the present and the future. So how best do we capture the contribution of faith communities through the pandemic?

• What role have faith communities played during global pandemic?

• Has the crisis prompted people to think differently about faith and belief?

• In what ways can different belief systems help us make sense of our current experiences?

• How do we best represent people from faith communities in the collection?

• How do we capture the hope, resilience and community spirit embedded in the work of faith communities?

• What is the vital relationship between faith and health?

• And what are the ethical considerations of collecting in the midst of the pandemic?

This series of events is part of a major public history programme – NHS Voices of Covid-19 – led by Stephanie Snow and the NHS at 70 team at the University of Manchester and undertaken in partnership with the British Library. Supported by a grant from UK Research and Innovation, through the Arts and Humanities Research Council, we are developing a national collection of personal testimonies and in-depth reflections around Covid-19 that will be preserved as a permanent public resource for informing policy and practice and form part of a wider British Library Covid-19 collecting initiative.

Further events: 12.30-1.30pm Tuesday 20 July 2021

Covid Conversations: Vaccination and Covid-19

NHS Voices of Covid-19 In conversation with: Faith and Covid-19